Day 1
01 Opener 02 Barriers & Challenges 03 Break 04 Model Lesson 05 Lunch 06 Async Prep 07 Teaching Practices 08 Focus on Equity 09 Break 10 Lesson Planning 11 Wrap Up

Session 8: Focus on Equity

60 Minutes

discussion-based

Purpose

The purpose of this session is for participants to examine their role and CS teaching practices in support of sustaining equitable and inclusive CS Fundamentals classrooms.

Objectives

  • Participants will describe the influence they have over classroom CS culture and student success in CS.
  • Participants will identify challenges to implementing CS teaching practices.
  • Participants will identify strategies to address challenges to implementing CS teaching practices in support of inclusion.

Supplies & Prep

Facilitator Supplies:

Teacher Materials:

  • Computer

Agenda

Equity Journey (15 minutes)

Our Role in CS Equity (22 minutes)

CS Teaching Practices and Equity (23 minutes)

Facilitation Guide

Equity Journey (15 minutes)

(2 minutes) Equity-focused Language

Remarks

When we talk about reaching equity in CS we are talking about access, diversity, and inclusion working together. Let’s take a look at these definitions.

(1 minute) Participants read the following words and definitions.
  • Access: The right and opportunity for all students to learn and experience computer science.
  • Diversity: Ensuring CS courses and programs have student enrollment rates that reflect the demographics of the larger school or community population, particularly in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status.
  • Inclusion: Creating learning environments that are accessible and welcoming of students’ identities, backgrounds, differences, and perspectives without barriers or judgment. This means actively attending to gender, race, ethnicity, ability, or socioeconomics status.
  • Equity: Equitable education ensures that learning experiences are accessible and inclusive for all learners. This means that every student has what they uniquely need to succeed.
(1 minute) Provide an overview of the following image which provides a visual representation of how the definitions fit together in support of equity in CS. Image is taken from the Guide to Inclusive Computer Science Education, 2019.

(8 minutes) Breakout Rooms

Remarks

Reaching equity in CS is a journey that takes time. We recognize we are all on different paths with this work. Let’s reflect on how this work is going for each of us.

Begin this activity by sharing your response, as the facilitator(s), to the prompts. Then, participants discuss the prompts in breakout rooms with small groups of 3-4 people and add their individual responses to the designated slides.

  • Prompts:

    • What success are you currently having in your school or classroom in supporting access, diversity, and inclusion for CS Fundamentals?
    • What struggles are you currently facing in your school or classroom in supporting access, diversity, and inclusion for CS Fundamentals?

  • Sample responses:

    • “As a tech specialist, I am able to bring CS Fundamentals to all students in my school. However, I’m having a hard time engaging some of my female students to feel successful during lessons."
    • " I’ve brought CS Fundamentals to my classroom, but I’m struggling to include all of my students. Right now it’s only available to kids who finish their work early because they have more free time and are able to engage with lessons with less of my help."

Transition: Remind participants the designated slides include prompts for the breakout room discussion. Share that each group needs a presenter. The presenter will share key takeaways from the discussion with the whole group.

Producers: Send groups of 3-4 participants to breakout rooms for eight minutes. Then bring participants back to the main room.

Circulate: Circulate the breakout rooms and provide support as needed.

(5 minutes) Whole Group Share Out

Participants return to the main room. Presenters share key takeaways from breakout room discussion with the whole group.

Our Role in CS Equity (22 minutes)

(2 minutes) Equity-focused Language (continued)

Remarks

In addition to talking about access, diversity, inclusion, and equity, let’s also talk about unconscious bias, privilege, and power in order to examine and reflect on our individual roles in reaching equity in CS.

Introduce the following words and definitions. Participants individually read the following words and definitions.

  • Unconscious bias:

    • Prejudice or unsupported judgments in favor of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair. [adapted from Vanderbilt University]
    • When the unconscious biases of well-intentioned teachers influence their judgment towards particular students (e.g., by race, ethnicity, gender, able-bodiedness), it can influence their instructional practices, the expectations they convey, and their recommendations for relevant outcomes like course placement, special education, and discipline. [Dee & Gershenson, 2017]

  • Privilege and power:

    • Privilege and power in computer science may include knowledge, experience, ability, age, education, race or ethnicity, positional authority, and social or economic advantage. People often do not recognize their own privilege and power.
    • Teachers should recognize that they have the power to influence students’ CS identities and trajectories.

Remarks

How we influence our classrooms is tied to our unconscious bias, privilege, and power. During the next activity, let’s keep in mind how our unconscious bias, privilege, and power:

  • influences what we do or say in our classrooms
  • might unintentionally sustain barriers
  • may intentionally create opportunities for our students.

Again, a reminder to keep in mind that everyone is on a different path towards equity in CS and there is no single right answer to any of the prompts.

(2 minutes) Intro to Breakout Rooms

Facilitator Tip

Gather key takeaways as participants share responses to the prompts on the designated slides to briefly summarize common themes from breakout room discussions during “Facilitator Share Out.”

Begin this activity by sharing your responses to the following prompts.

  • Prompt #1: What influence do I have over who has access to CS in my classroom? In my school? In my community?

    • Facilitator sample response:
      • “I can influence who has access to CS in my classroom by ensuring all of my students can engage with CS Fundamentals courses as a class, instead of making it only available to students who finish their work early.”

  • Prompt #2: What influence do I have over my classroom CS culture and student success in CS?

    • Sample response:
      • “I can influence my CS classroom culture by showing my belief that all students can learn CS by encouraging students to persevere during lessons.

  • Prompt #3: What opportunities can I create within my classroom to represent varied perspectives, abilities, approaches, and solutions in CS?

    • Facilitator sample response:
      • “I can create opportunities during the Wrap Up of every lesson, for all students to share their thinking and ideas so that students can get different perspectives on how to learn CS.”

  • Prompt #4: How will I know I’m making progress in support of equity for CS?

    • Facilitator sample response:
      • “I will know I’m making progress in support of equity for CS because I will see more students in my school having access to CS.”

(1 minute) Participants individually reflect on the prompts before going into breakout rooms.

(16 minutes) Breakout Rooms

Participants discuss the prompts in breakout rooms with small groups of 3-4 people.

  • (4 minutes) Prompt #1: What influence do I have over who has access to CS in my classroom? In my school? In my community?

  • (4 minutes) Prompt #2: What influence do I have over my classroom CS culture and student success in CS?

  • (4 minutes) Prompt #3: What opportunities can I create within my classroom to represent varied perspectives, abilities, approaches, and solutions in CS?

  • (4 minutes) Prompt #4: How will I know I’m making progress in support of equity for CS?

Transition: Remind participants the designated slides include prompts for the breakout room discussion. Share that each group needs a presenter. The presenter will share key takeaways from the discussion with the whole group.

Producers: Send groups of 3-4 participants to breakout rooms for sixteen minutes. Then bring participants back to the main room. If possible broadcast a message for participants to move on to the next prompt, every four minutes.

Circulate: Circulate the breakout rooms and provide support as needed.

(2 minutes) Facilitator Share Out

Briefly summarize any key takeaway for the prompts based on what participants shared on the designated slides.

CS Teaching Practices and Equity (23 minutes)

(10 minutes) Activity Part I

Remarks

Acknowledging our unconscious bias, privilege, and power influence our classroom CS culture and student success in CS is an important step in support of equity in CS. In addition, identifying teaching practices that establish and sustain an equitable classroom CS culture further supports all students in having success in CS. During the previous session, we identified how lessons and CS teaching practices support students in developing student practices. During this session, we focus on how implementing CS teaching practices supports sustaining an inclusive learning environment.

(1 minute) Share with participants directions for this activity:
  1. Discuss one of the CS teaching practices to focus on.
  2. Add the name and description of the chosen CS teaching practice to the table on the designated slide.
  3. Discuss the prompts to fill out the first two columns of the table on the designated slide.
  4. Return to the main room and switch to another group’s slide.
  5. Discuss the prompt to fill out the third column of the table on the other group’s slide.

Transition: Remind participants the designated slides include prompts for the breakout room discussion. Share that each group needs a notetaker.

Producers: Send groups of 3-4 participants to breakout rooms for nine minutes. If possible broadcast a message for participants to move on from choosing a CS teaching practice to discussing the prompts and filling out the table, after three minutes.

Circulate: Circulate the breakout rooms and provide support as needed.

(2 minutes) Participants discuss which one of the CS teaching practices to focus on for this activity from the following list in breakout rooms with small groups of 3-4 people.

  • For example, the name of a CS teaching practice: Role of the Teacher; specific CS teaching practice: Teachers engage in active learning.

    • Name: Role of the Teacher

      • CS teaching practices:
        • Teachers support all students in first engaging with concepts through lesson activities rather than first providing explanations or lectures.
        • Teachers engage in active teaching.

    • Name: Discovery and Inquiry

      • CS teaching practices:
        • Teachers support all students in exploring concepts and building their own understanding of concepts.
        • Teachers support all students with building and strengthening their debugging skills individually.

    • Name: The Classroom Community

      • CS teaching practices:
        • Teachers support all students in engaging in active learning.
        • Teachers support all students in engaging with pair programming.
        • Teachers support all students in building and strengthening their understanding of debugging as a process.
        • Teachers and all students engage in an inclusive CS learning environment.
(6 minutes) Participants discuss the prompts and use the designated slides in the slide deck.

Facilitator Tip

If participants are struggling to respond to the prompts, consider sharing the following example:

  • Chosen CS teaching practice is Discovery and Inquiry: Students are exposed to concepts through lesson activities rather than explanations.
    • Implementation looks like: students going immediately into a lesson activity before asking questions about the content.
    • Implementation sounds like: students talking about what they did first in the activity, then asking questions.
    • Challenges may include establishing routines/procedures for students to first engage with the content, then ask questions.

Participants discuss the first prompt and fill in the first column of the poster shown below. Participants discuss the second prompt and fill in the second column of the poster shown below.

Prompts:

  • What does implementing this CS teaching practice look and sound like in your classrooms?
  • What challenges, if any, are there to implementing this CS teaching practice?

Note: Participants will fill out the third column labeled “Addressing Challenges” during “Activity Part II.”

(6 minutes) Activity Part II

Participants rotate as a small group (in the main room) to a different slide in the slide deck and fill in the third column “Addressing Challenges” in response to the following prompt.

Facilitator Tip

If participants are struggling to respond to the prompt, consider sharing the following example:

  • A strategy to address establishing routines/procedures for when students should ask questions is to create an anchor chart as a reminder to students such as the following:
    • 1) Try it out!
    • 2) Tell someone what you did.
    • 3) Ask questions.
    • For younger students consider using images along with words.

Prompt:

  • Brainstorm and identify strategies to address the challenges identified on the table for implementing CS teaching practices.

Transition: Remind participants the designated slides include prompts for the breakout room discussion. Share that each group needs a notetaker.

Producers: Send the same groups of 3-4 participants to breakout rooms for six minutes. Then bring participants back to the main room.

Circulate: Circulate the breakout rooms and provide support as needed.

Remarks

Now that we have shared ideas about how we can implement CS teaching practices in our classrooms in support of inclusion, identify your next steps with a Gallery Walk and pick out a strategy you want to commit to taking back to your classroom.

Participants read each other’s slides and pick out a strategy they want to commit to using when implementing CS teaching strategies in their classrooms.

(3 minutes) Individual Reflection

Facilitator Tip

Circulate throughout the room and support participants as needed in responding to the prompts.

Participants individually share their responses to the prompts on the designated slides.

Prompts:

  • What strategy do you commit to using when implementing CS teaching practices during CS Fundamentals lessons?
  • How will the strategy support inclusion during your CS Fundamentals lessons?

(3 minutes) Whole Group Share Out

Invite a few participants to share the strategy they commit to using and how it will support inclusion during their CS Fundamentals lesson with the whole group.